1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a refuse compaction unit for reducing the volume of various kinds of waste materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In disposing of plastic, paper and other types of containers and the leftover food contained therein, it is the general practice to separate the containers from the contents and throw these into separate trash bins (bags, boxes etc.) either as they are or as somewhat compacted by the application of moderate pressure. This practice is, however, inefficient from the point of the large volume of the refuse discarded into the trash bins etc. Moreover, it has been difficult to realize any substantial degree of volume reduction by only a moderate degree of compaction since the containers in the refuse tend to spring back to their pre-compressed shape. Although it has been known that chopping or shredding of such containers is effective toward removing the air from the containers included in the refuse, the conventional chopping and shredding machines used for this purpose have been designed only to cut up the containers and have not been capable of compacting the refuse. What is more, these conventional machines are noisy and susceptible to clogging when small stones or metal pieces are contained in the refuse.